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Guide -Book of Camden 

Containing Description of Points of Interest 

Together With 

AN HISTOEUCAL SKETCH 

Pioneer and Revolutionary Scenes 

Battle of Camden 

Battle of Hobkirk Hill 



With Illustrations 



♦-^o 



Published by 

Edward Boltwood Hull 

Camden, S. C. 



Copyrighted by Edward Boltwood Hull 
1918 



MAR -7 1918 

©GI.A492501 

?4 



4^.' 



To 

H. C. S. 

at whose prompting 

and 

with whose kind assistance 

this Guide-Book 

has been prepared 



GUIDEBOOK OF CAMDEN 



CAMDEN: DESCRIPTIVE FOREWORD. 

Camden is a city of about 4,000 people, situated in 
Kershaw county, in the Pine Belt region of central 
South Carolina. It is reached by railroad from north, 
south and west by well-appointed trains: in 18 or 19 
hours from New York, in 13 hours from Washington, 
in 36 hours from Chicago. From the far south of 
Florida the journey by rail is made in somewhat less 
than 24 hours; from Jacksonville in 11. Savannah, 
Atlanta, Augusta, are all readily accessible, and the 
journey to and from Charleston is accomplished in six 
hours. Travelers from New York and Boston may 
journey to Camden by large coastwise steamers to 
Charleston or Savannah with three or four nights at 
sea, according to the point of departure and the route 
chosen. Camden is situated on the "Capital to Capital" 
highway and may be reached by motor car from all 
southern points. 

Camden is served by three modern resort hotels and 
many excellent boarding houses. Its reputation as 
a health resort is established. The mild, but bracing 
atmosphere of the winter months, the cheering southern 
sunshine, have proved the delight of many thousands 
of visitors. There is much that is attractive in the 
scenery, while the flowers, hedges, shrubbery and 
gardens are greatly admired. The town itself is 
pleasing. The streets are broad and their shade 
abundant, the houses comfortable and, many of them. 



[ 6 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 

handsome. Indeed Camden's fine old places are not 
the least of the town's attractions. 

There is much of historical interest in Camden's 
connection with stirring events to stimulate the student 
and sightseer. 

Camden has a modern lighting plant and well- 
illumined highways; an excellent water system and 
carefully protected water supply; police and fire 
departments; a health officer; schools; an industrial 
school for colored children; a Carnegie library; two 
weekly newspapers; spacious public parks; handsome 
public buildings; Baptist, Methodist, Episcopal, Pres- 
byterian and Catholic churches; a Chamber of Com- 
merce; two 18-hole golf courses; a polo club; a 
riding and driving club; and a well-appointed modern 
hospital. 

There are two cotton mills and a cottonseed oil mill, 
while a national bank and two state banks supply 
banking facilities. The agricultural region about 
Camden, though not one of the more highly productive 
areas of South Carolina, is nevertheless of continually 
increasing production and there are many large plan- 
tations in the neighborhood where southern agriculture 
may be seen to advantage. 



THE HISTORY OF CAMDEN. 

The following Historical Sketch is founded upon the state- 
ments set forth in "Historic Camden," by Thomas J. Kirkland 
and Robert M. Kennedy. This excellent work is the authori- 
tative history of local events and the account given in it of the 
happenings of national history in which Camden figured is accu- 
rate and full. To it any who wish a fuller account than the 
following are referred by the compiler of this Guide. 

Early History. 

At the beginning of the historic period the inhabit- 
ants of the regions about the present city of Camden 
were Indians of the Wateree tribe. One of their 
villages is shown on an early map within the present 
limits of the town at a point marked now by the 
Hermitage Cotton Mills. But at the time of the arrival 
of the first white settlers the overlordship of the 
Indians had been assumed by the Catawbas, and it is 
with this latter tribe that the fathers of Camden had 
principally to deal. It is their king, Haigler, who has 
become, in a measure, the patron saint of Camden. It 
it his effigy which adorns the steeple of Camden City 
Hall where the visitor may perceive him at all times 
and in all weathers vigilant in his task of indicating 
the direction of the breezes which blow over Camden. 
The relations of the Indians to the white settlers were 
generally undisturbed and it is a fact to be recorded 
to the credit of both the newcomers and the aborigines 
that there was so little friction in the conduct of 
mutual dealings. King Haigler throughout his life 
was well disposed to the intruders, and he and Samuel 
Wyly, an early Quaker settler, were even intimate in 



[ 8 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 

their friendship. The Catawbas fought for the Amer- 
icans, both in their Indian wars and in their struggle 
for independence, and in the Civil War there were 
twenty of them who fought for the Confederacy. 

The first white settlers appeared early in the second 
quarter of the eighteenth century. One, James Ousley, 
received a grant of three hundred acres on the west 
side of the Wateree river in 1733; by 1750 as many 
as forty families were dwelling in this region spread 
up and down on both sides of the river north and south 
of the location of modern Camden. 

In 1734 a township called Fredericksburg was laid 
out on the east bank of the river, but this township 
only roughly corresponded with the town which was 
later established and for many years there continued 
to be no real town. The site of Camden remained a 
forest. 

The settlers lived on isolated farms without any of 
the regular accompaniments of village life. Even the 
large accession to the population about 1750, when a 
party of immigrant Irish Quakers appeared on the 
scene, effected no large change in the manner of living 
along the Wateree. One of these Quakers, however, 
conducted a store under the name of Wyly and Com- 
pany, and another, Daniel Mathis, must have lived 
within the present bounds of Camden for his son 
established his claim to the honor of being the first 
white person born in Camden. The Quakers built a 
meeting-house. This meeting-house and the Quaker 
graveyard, which surrounded it, were within the limits 
of the present Camden cemetery. Samuel Wyly con- 



GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. [ 9 ] 



veyed the land for the meeting-house in 1759 and the 
Quaker place of worship was probably not long in 
building after this. 

The village began to take form. In 1758 there 
appeared here a man with whose life and activity 
Camden's early history is closely bound. This was 
Joseph Kershaw. When he arrived the site of Camden 
was still wooded ground, save, perhaps, where the 
Mathis family lived. The country round about was 
thickly dotted with farms, but Camden itself was as 
yet non-existent. In the year of his arrival this indus- 
trious man established a store on what he then called 
Pine Tree Hill, a very slight eminence in the southeast 
part of the town which later generations call Maga- 
zine Hill. One of his partners, William Ancrum, sur- 
veyed a tract of one hundred fifty acres, and it was 
on this tract that the store and hill were situated. 
Here was the beginning of the town ; for ten years the 
forming village bore the name Pine Tree Hill. 

In 1768, however, the town received its name, the 
name it now carries, Camden. And why Camden? 
The name, undoubtedly, was bestowed in honor of 
Charles Pratt, an English statesman and follower of 
the great Lord Chatham, who had recently been raised 
to the peerage, under the title Baron Camden, for his 
pleas on behalf of the American contentions in the 
struggle between them and England. This struggle 
was already acute when Camden received its name, and 
this naming of the town after an English champion of 
the colonial cause reflects the interest of South Caro- 
lina. 



[ 10 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 

In 1771 a court-house was built. A Presbyterian 
Church was established. A petition, 1772, for the 
establishment of an Episcopal Church shows that the 
town was growing. 

And now the young town, growing and prospering, 
but still unincorporated, became the scene of stirring 
events with which its name to its greater renown is 
indissolubly linked. They were, however, sad days 
for the people of Camden. 

Revolutionary Times. 

1. To the British Occupation of Camden. 

It was not till 1780 that Camden became especially 
prominent. Before this, and as early as November, 
1774, Camden had had its share in the Revolutionary 
struggle. In that month William Henry Drayton, 
presiding at a Circuit Court at Camden, had delivered 
the first of a series of stirring appeals which did much 
to establish public opinion in South Carolina on the 
American side. This first appeal was so effective that 
the Grand Jury responded with a vigorous presentment, 
a veritable "Declaration of Independence,'* that bears 
a number of distinctively Camden names. From this 
time forward the leading spirit here was pronouncedly 
Revolutionary, though Camden was not without its 
quota of Loyalists, drawn largely from the Quakers. 
And when the fighting began, Camden, from the first, 
did its share. Men from here fought in the defense of 
Charleston in 1776 and thereafter Camden supplied 
men to the rebel armies. 



GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. [ 11 ] 



In 1780 a magazine was erected on Pine Tree Hill 
in Camden at a cost of nine thousand pounds and 
Joseph Kershaw, now bearing the title of colonel, was 
made custodian. Just at this time, 12th May, 1780, 
Charleston fell to the British, and the conqueror, Clin- 
ton, sent General Cornwallis into the interior with 
2,500 men to subdue the rebellious centers. Two weeks 
later a detachment under Bannastre Tarleton, after 
defeating a regiment of Americans under Colonel 
Buford, at a point forty miles north of here, and well- 
nigh killing all its members, fell back upon Camden 
with half a hundred prisoners he had spared. This 
was the beginning of the British occupation of Camden. 
On 1st June, 1780, Cornwallis entered the town and 
made it a fortified post with all the celerity he could 
command. 

The occupation lasted until the 8th May in the fol- 
lowing year. In the meantime two battles had been 
fought in the immediate vicinity. 

2. Battle of Camden— August 16, 1780. 

The first of these encounters took place on the 16th 
of August on a field eight miles north of Camden. It 
is famous not because of its results, which, though not 
inconsiderable, were nothing more than a delay to the 
ultimate American triumph, but because it was prob- 
ably the most complete rout suffered by either side in 
any important engagement of the war. Here General 
Horatio Gates exchanged his northern laurels for south- 
ern willows. Here De Kalb, the Alsatian soldier of 
fortune and friend of America, fell mortally wounded. 



[ 12 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 

a grievous loss to the southern Revolutionary army. 
Here that army itself was virtually annihilated. 

Gates had superseded De Kalb in command of the 
small southern forces at the end of July, 1780, soon 
after the Bristish entered Camden. From that moment 
to the day of his disaster he pursued his campaign 
with vigor. Two days after assuming command he 
left Wilcox's Mill in North Carolina for Camden. On 
August 6th he entered South Carolina. The following 
day he came up with General Casewell and his North 
Carolina brigade, replenished his supply of provisions, 
and pushed on to Lynches Creek, twenty miles north- 
east of Camden. At this point he found the young 
English general, Lord Rawdon, across his path with 
three regiments. These he caused to fall back to Log 
Town in Camden, without a battle. Then he moved on 
to ''Clermont," Colonel Rugeley's place, thirteen miles 
north of Camden. Here he spent the 13th of August. 

On the next day his forces were increased by 700 
Virginians under General Stevens, but Sumter, who 
here joined him, he sent off once more after detaching 
to him one hundred Maryland Continentals and North 
Carolina militia. Historians have averred that after 
Gates took command of the southern army he com- 
mitted, in the words of Trevelyan, ''every fault that 
any general could have found time to commit," and 
this sending off of Sumter and the choice troops under 
him on a "fool's errand" is listed among the greatest 
of these errors. Sumter's task was to take Carey's 
fort across the Wateree river from Camden. This he 
accomplished successfully on the 15th, the day after his 



GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. [ 13 ] 

departure, a fruitless victory that cost Gates his valu- 
able help on the 16th ! 

General Gates's army at this time amounted to 3,600 
men, of whom 2,000 were seasoned Continentals. The 
presence of this army in close proximity to Camden 
had rendered the British position perilous. General 
Cornwallis, who, on hearing of Gates's approach, had 
hastened up from Charleston and collected his forces, 
found himself far in the interior of a hostile country, 
surrounded by swamps, cut off by Sumter in the rear 
and faced by an American army half as large again as 
his — an uncomfortable position. 

He had an army of 2,331 men, including officers. 
But in spite of the disparity of numbers, he made up 
his mind to strike. He accordingly set out for Cler- 
mont on the night of the 15th August, planning to 
attack his enemy at daybreak. 

Gates, at the same time, had determined to occupy 
a strong position near Camden, on Saunders Creek, 
which had been selected for him by his engineer, and 
he, too, undertook a night march on the 15th. 

We then have the striking situation, two hostile 
armies marching toward each other through the night 
on the same road ! The inevitable meeting took place 
at two in the morning. Up to this hour the British, 
marching at speed, had covered eight miles of the 
forested way ; the Americans, under no apparent neces- 
sity for haste, but five. The place of meeting was 
one mile north of a creek named Gum Swamp, an ele- 
vated sandy plateau about two miles long and one mile 
wide, enclosed by streams and boggy swamps, with 



[ 14 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 

the road running through the midst. Today it is in 
part under cultivation, in part covered by scrub oaks 
and low growth; on that disastrous morning it was 
shaded by tall pines. 

After the first clash the armies recoiled. Armand's 
American cavalry had behaved badly and fled the field ; 
a few combatants had fallen ; each side had taken pris- 
oners. The armies then formed in battle line and 
waited for day to come to begin the battle. Corn- 
wallis, who had left Camden in order to fight, was now 
eager for it. Gates and his generals decided that there 
was no alternative and prepared accordingly. But 
not wisely! For upon his worst troops the American 
general placed the responsibility of attack. 

Morning came. Through the still, slightly hazy, 
atmosphere, one of the American officers descried the 
British a short way down the road. He brought word 
to General Gates, who, deciding that now was the 
moment for attack, sent Colonel Williams galloping off 
to General Stevens, in command of the Virginia militia 
on the American left wing, with the order to attack. 
General Stevens immediately advanced at the head of 
his troops to the encounter. 

The British were not idle. Cornwallis, perceiving 
the Americans opposite his right in movement and 
diagnosing the movement as an attack, sent General 
Webster, in command of his 23rd and 33rd regiments 
of regulars, to meet the approaching Americans. 

The rest is sad reading. At the first clash the entire 
Virginia brigade took to its heels and the North Caro- 



GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. [ 15 ] 



linians joined in the disgraceful panic. Only the Con- 
tinentals stood. 

The battle really was decided in this first clash. The 
American commander tried personally to rally the 
flying patriots, but Tarleton, with his cavalry, was 
among them, carrying terror and even greater panic, 
and Gates himself was swept away, on his fleet race 
horse, in the flood of retreat, taking his reputation with 
him. When the rout was complete, Webster turned 
his red-coated following against the exposed flank of 
the Continentals under De Kalb. Even now the brave 
men, deserted by the militiamen, were making a game 
fight and were not being altogether whipped. But 
Tarleton, having finished off all those agile militiamen 
who had not found refuge in the swamps, threw his 
cavalry into the struggle and this ended it. De Kalb 
fell, wounded to the death. The Continentals scattered 
and found their only hope of safety with those patriots, 
who had earlier left the field, in those wooded and 
swampy havens where cavalry could not follow. 

The pursuit was driven home. As a result of a few 
minutes' hot struggle, and the battle had been over in 
incredibly short time, the southern army was a ruin. 
Tarleton did not leave off harrying and butchering 
until he had gone twenty-two miles beyond the place 
of battle. 

General Gates did not pause till he reached Charlotte, 
nor leave his saddle till on the fourth evening at Hills- 
boro in North Carolina he had placed two hundred 
miles of road between him and the spot of his defeat! 
The reputation of Horatio Gates was gone ; the fidelity 



[ 16 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 

and affection of his admirers in Congress was stretched 
beyond repair, and never again was he entrusted with 
the care of the safety or honor of an American army. 

In this battle the British lost 324 killed and wounded. 
On the American side the militia made no return. The 
loss among 2,090 Continentals was 849. The impor- 
tance of the battle may not be measured by the detail of 
losses. It was not, truly, one of the decisive battles of 
the Revolution, although the victory was one of the 
most complete British soldiers ever achieved, and its 
importance comes entirely from the fact that it delayed 
the American triumph and discouraged the American 
heart. Following closely upon the news of the fall of 
Charleston, the news from Camden reached the people 
of the north when the popular mind was already 
depressed. The French alliance seemed to have 
brought no profit; the armies lay idle; American 
finance was in a deplorable condition. Men were say- 
ing that the war was a failure. Benedict Arnold was 
plotting to be the General Monk of the American Revo- 
lution and restore George the Third in America as 
Charles the Second had been restored to his throne in 
Great Britain a hundred and twenty years before. To 
a people in such an atmosphere came the news from 
South Carolina that the principal city of those parts 
had fallen to the enemy and that the southern army 
had been destroyed. In this lies the importance of the 
battle. 

Before dismissing the subject, it must be recorded 
what befell the hero of that field, the brave De Kalb. 
He had fallen wounded on the battlefield. He was 



GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. [ 17 ] 

brought into Camden and there died on the third day 
and was buried with military honors by the British. 

3. Battle of Hobkirk Hill— April 25th, 1781. 

The second of the battles fought in the vicinity of 
Camden took place eight months later, on the 25th 
April, 1781, and was fought within the present bounds 
of Camden. 

The intervening eight months had witnessed the 
carrying out of a policy of terrorism directed against 
the South Carolinians by the British invaders, and for 
this extreme policy Camden had proved a ready base. 
Deluded by the collapse of the American army in the 
August battle into thinking that nothing was now 
needed to finish rebellion in the South but a little firm- 
ness, the British commanders commenced executing 
and imprisoning recalcitrant Americans with a free- 
dom they had hitherto denied themselves. Into Cam- 
den were fetched the wounded and prisoners from 
many minor battlefields. Hangings became so common 
as no longer to excite particular attention from the 
inhabitants. Deportations of leading men of the 
American party also took place, and among those exiled 
was Joseph Kershaw, the founder of Camden. He and 
his brother were sent to Bermuda and on the way the 
brother died. Among the prisoners in Camden that 
year was a youth whose destiny was to lead him to the 
White House many years later. This was Andrew 
Jackson. Of his prison experiences in Camden he 
carried through life a reminder in the form of a scar 
upon the cheek from a wound inflicted by a British 



[ 18 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 

officer because he refused to black the gentleman's 
boots. 

For the new policy of terrorism the English found 
ready excuse in the many instances of violated parole 
of which the Americans were guilty, while aid and 
comfort were undoubtedly rendered by those whom 
necessity only had caused to submit, but whose sym- 
pathy with the rebel guerrillas was so strong as to 
constitute constant temptation. The ruthlessness with 
which the British carried out their policy and the inflex- 
ibility with which they interpreted violations of the 
rules they had established resulted in strengthening, 
rather than weakening, the devotion of the colonists to 
the cause of separation. 

Camden was meanwhile transformed into a military 
station. In the center of the town a stockade was 
erected, while forts were put up at the four corners of 
the village to give greater protection to the town and 
garrison. Lord Rawdon was in command, a young 
man afterwards distinguished for his service in India 
and ennobled under the title of Marquis of Hastings. 
Under him was a garrison which varied in size as 
detachments were sent out or other garrisons called 
in, but numbering generally close to a thousand men. 

The military situation in the South altered with the 
winter. After General Nathaniel Greene had assumed 
command of the remnant of Gates's army in December, 
1780, and after a few small victories had been achieved 
by the American forces, notably at Cowpens, Corn- 
wallis went north from South Carolina to retrieve what 
had been lost. At Guilford Court House, in North 



GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. [ 19 ] 



Carolina, he met General Greene and won one of those 
fruitless victories, in reality defeats, by which the 
British campaigns in the South were distinguished, 
and in March, 1781, he departed for Wilmington, N. C. 

It was then that General Greene conceived the bril- 
liant plan of a descent upon the British garrisons in 
South Carolina. The move was certain either to draw 
Cornwallis back into South Carolina and so free North 
Carolina and Virgina of the presence of his army, or 
to result in the capture, or at least withdrawal, of the 
British garrisons. The truth was, though this was not 
clear to contemporary eyes, that for the British the 
game was about up. Every alternative was an alter- 
native of disaster. And General Greene forced a 
choice. In this case Cornwallis did not follow Greene. 
He chose instead the fatal road which led to Yorktown ; 
and the ragged, starving American army, numbering 
barely 2,000 men, went off unhindered to its work in 
South Carolina. 

Greene went straight for Camden. He arrived here 
on the 19th of April. He maneuvered in this neigh- 
borhood for several days, occupying various positions 
and, finally, on the evening of Tuesday, the 24th, camp- 
ing on Hobkirk Hill immediately north of that upper 
section of Camden then called Log Town, situated 
between what are now De Kalb and Chestnut (or 
Boundary) streets. Rawdon, in Camden, had all along 
been aware of his adversary's movements, but on the 
night of the 24th, he received information from an 
American deserter that determined him to seek battle. 
This news was that the Americans were out of provi- 



[ 20 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 



sions, and, what was more important, that they lacked 
cannon. This information was correct when given, 
but the morning of Wednesday, the 25th, which found 
the British preparing for battle, also found the Ameri- 
cans rejoicing at the arrival, between nine and ten, of 
an abundance of provisions and of two cannon sure to 
strengthen Greene's position greatly. 

General Greene's position was strong anyway. Hob- 
kirk Hill is a not inconsiderable elevation quite steep 
on its southern side, that up which Lord Rawdon must 
approach, wooded (in 1780), and stretching for a 
quarter of a mile in either direction from Broad street. 
On the crest, the American forces were disposed. One 
wing, the right, under Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, 
occupied ground now covered by the buildings of the 
Kirkwood Hotel, while the left, Marylanders, reached 
about to what is now Lyttleton street and perhaps 
beyond. On either side of the road itself holding the 
center were, right center, the Second Virginians under 
Lieutenant-Colonel Hawes, and, left center, the tried 
First Marylanders under Colonel Gunby. The newly 
arrived cannon were stationed on the road itself, then 
not sunken, as at present. Beyond the left wing, some- 
where in the woods, were the remnants of the Delaware 
regiment with Captain Kirkwood in command, and 
still further out, two companies of pickets at a junction 
of roads near where is now the Sarsfield Golf Club. 
Behind the center were stationed reserves, a troop of 
light infantry under Captain Smith, while Colonel 
Washington's cavalry were still further to the rear. 



GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. [ 21 ] 



The visitor to the battlefield can explore every comer 
of it in half an hour. 

The British sallied forth at ten in the morning and, 
following the circuitous route of the Pine Tree Creek 
on the east of Camden, first encountered the pickets at 
the left beyond the American line. The sound of the 
shots, brought forth by this meeting, caused Greene's 
forces on the hill, then engaged in enjoying the newly 
received provisions, to form for action. Shortly there- 
after the British troops, driving Kirkwood's band 
before them, appeared at the foot of the hill, and 
received a welcome from the cannon in the road. This 
was Rawdon's first knowledge of the artillery rein- 
forcement to the American army. 

His troops seemed about to break. Posted before 
them in an exceedingly advantageous position, was an 
enemy numerically superior, unexpectedly provided 
where he had been supposed to be deficient. Hesitation 
was natural. 

General Greene immediately undertook the attack, 
seeking to envelope both flanks of the small band 
opposed to him, and at the same time he sent Washing- 
ton's cavalry to the British rear to cut off retreat. 
Ford and Campbell, commanding respectively the left 
and the right wings, advanced from both ends of the 
American line; the two regiments in the center 
descended the hill more slowly, trailing their arms and 
prepared to charge bayonets. The maneuver promised 
to grind Rawdon between the jaws of a Titan, while he 
was crushed at the same time by a frontal attack. 



[ 22 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 



Lord Rawdon brought up his reserves to attack, in 
their turn, the flanks of the American enveloping 
forces, so that now every available man was in the 
battle line, and his situation, though relieved, was 
precarious. 

At this instant, the American machine, which had 
been operating with precision, went wrong. Captain 
Beatty, in command of one of the companies of Gunby's 
regiment, left center, fell. His men, in violation of 
instructions, began firing their muskets, and then broke 
and retired, taking with them in the confusion the 
company next in line. Colonel Gunby, to restore his 
line, ordered his remaining companies to retire also, so 
that the regiment might reform. The order was mis- 
understood as one for retreat. The entire regiment 
became confused and the confusion spread west of the 
road to Ford's regiment, whose commander had just 
fallen mortally wounded. Both regiments precipitately 
retired, purposing to reform back from the top of the 
hill. By the time the reformation was complete the 
British held the hilltop and were in possession of the 
two cannon. The battle was now fully under way. 
The musketry of the contending forces shattered the 
atmosphere. A Camden youth, Samuel Mathis, records 
in his diary : "Between eleven and twelve o'clock heard 
a very heavy fire of cannon and musketry, lasting fif- 
teen minutes." Confusion and fierce fighting marked 
the battle from now forth. As the American line was 
pierced, Greene drew back his wings. However, there 
was no rout. The Americans continued to inflict heavy 
losses on the enemy. The reserves under Captain 



GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. [ 23 ] 

Smith and the cavalry of Washington, reappearing from 
their fruitless "cutting off of the British retreat," 
recaptured the artillery and carried both pieces from 
the field. 

Like the first battle of Camden, this second fight was 
over in incredibly short time, there being evidence that 
it did not last beyond half an hour. The American 
general brought his men off in good order. 

Tactically this was a British victory. The Ameri- 
cans had been driven from the field. The achievement, 
if brilliant, was, however, fruitless. Lord Rawdon's 
loss in killed and wounded, 258, was almost equal to 
the American loss, while proportionately much greater, 
as the English force was smaller. If the heavens wept 
that day — and Mathis records "Afternoon hard Rain" 
— it was not for Greene the celestial tears were shed. 

The inevitable had been delayed by a few days. 
Rawdon's precarious position in Camden had been 
made but a little less precarious because he had driven 
General Greene from Hobkirk Hill. Sumter and 
Marion were busy cutting off his sources of supplies 
and endangering his communications with his base at 
Charleston so that it made little difference how gal- 
lantly he fought or how many victories he won at the 
end of his ravelling line. On the 8th May he com- 
menced his withdrawal from Camden. The following 
day the young Irishman shook its soil from his military 
boots, burned of his supplies what he could not carry 
away, and departed, never to return. After a summer 
campaign in defense of his other posts and after one 
more sanguinary combat with his opponent of Hobkirk 



[ 24 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 

Hill, at Eutaw Springs, he withdrew to Charleston, and 
next year South Carolina was free. 

On the departure of the British, the people of Cam- 
den began to enjoy the fruits of victory, to rebuild what 
had been burnt, to recall the exiles, to savor peace after 
suffering. 

For many years the field of Hobkirk gave up relics 
of this bloody struggle for American freedom, a pocket 
pistol, a rusted bayonet, buttons from the uniforms of 
brave men who gave their lives that April morning a 
hundred thirty-odd years ago. 



PARKS AND STREETS. 

Camden is fortunate in the manner in which its 
streets are laid out and in the abundance of squares or 
parks for the adornment of the city and the recreation 
of her people. 

The first survey of the town was one made by Wil- 
liam Ancrum in 1758, when he and Joseph Kershaw, 
his partner, first came to the inland settlement. The 
earliest plan extant, approximately of the date of 
1774, shows a town laid out about a central square at 
the junction of Broad and Bull streets. This is far 
below (south) the present business center of the city 
and the old square is now hardly distinguishable from 
the surrounding open country. Gordon, Campbell, 
Church, Broad, Market, Lyttleton and Mill streets are 
present in this plan as north-and-south streets, while 
York, King, Bull, Meeting and Wateree streets inter- 
sect them at right angles. 

The village, however, grew northward, largely as a 
result of fires which, more than once, swept the older 
town. The higher ground, it is likely, had its own 
inherent appeal which attracted residents away from 
the flatter region. In 1798 we find a plan showing the 
town extending northward as far as Chestnut (or 
Boundary) street, and marked upon it another square, 
at the junction of Laurens and Broad streets, the pres- 
ent Monument Park. This plan also shows four other 
parks in the upper town. Two of these, Kershaw Park 
and Hampton Grove, now form valuable and decorative 
parks. The other two, though less completely 



[ 26 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 



developed and much less elaborately treated, are still 
extremely useful. They are situated between Gordon 
and Campbell avenues, one just south of Chestnut (or 
Boundary) street and the other just north of De Kalb 
street. These five parks were a splendid gift of the 
founders of the town to their descendants and suc- 
cessors. 

In the names of the streets of modern Camden are 
many reminders of persons prominent in the history 
of town, state, or nation. 

Wyly street commemorates an early Quaker settler; 
Gordon street bears the name of Thomas Knox Gordon, 
the Justice who presided at the first Court held in 
Camden, 5th November, 1772; Laurens street recalls 
the name of an illustrious Revolutionary family; De 
Kalb street, of course, is named for the hero of the first 
battle of Camden ; and Rutledge street brings to mind 
still another hero of the early days, John Rutledge. 
Lafayette avenue, more recently laid out, is named for 
the Marquis of Lafayette, the distinguished friend of 
America, whose visit to Camden, in 1825, was an event 
in the history of the city. 

These names are still those by which the streets are 
commonly known. An attempt has been made, how- 
ever, to introduce a more scientific nomenclature 
employing numerals, and house numbers are every- 
where based upon this system. Under this system the 
north and south streets are avenues and the east and 
west streets, streets. For convenience certain of the 
equivalents are given here, as follows: Avenues, Mill 
street=2d avenue, Fair=3d, Lyttleton=4th, Market, 



GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. [ 27 ] 



which extends no further north than De Kalb street, 
equals 5th, and Broad=6th. Of the streets, De Kalb= 
11th, Laurens=14th, Chestnut=-17th, and Greene= 
20th. Chestnut street is also sometimes called Bound- 
ary street and Broad street below De Kalb is often 
spoken of as Main street. 

HOUSES AND GARDENS. 

The architecture of the older houses of Camden is 
distinctively Southern, marked as it is by the broad 
galleries extending across one or more sides of the 
houses and often carried up to the eaves with two plat- 
forms or stories. In many of the houses the main 
entrance is almost a full story above ground level and 
is reached by a long exterior flight of steps and this 
arrangement produces its own distinctive effect. On a 
short section of Broad street between Laurens and 
De Kalb streets is a group of houses with gable-ends 
to the street which recalls the arrangement so charac- 
teristic of Charleston and generally accounted quaint 
and charming. 

The gardens about so many of the houses, old and 
modern alike, contribute to the beauty of the town. 
Evergreen shrubs and trees, and vines which flower in 
the winter, make the gardens almost as pleasing in the 
dead season of the year as in the spring and summer, 
though it is not until late March and April that they 
are seen to best advantage. The gardens in the 
grounds of the Court Inn on Mill street are of great 
age and of unusual extent. The arched evergreen 
walk, which measures one dimension, is 500 feet in 



[ 28 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 



length. A curious maze is another feature of this 
garden which in its more usual aspects is fittingly rep- 
resentative of South Carolina gardens. 

PLACES, BUILDINGS AND OTHER OBJECTS 

OF INTEREST. 

Indian Mounds. 

The Cherokee Indians, who occupied territory in this 
vicinity, are supposed to have been the builders of the 
mounds along the Wateree river. These Indian mounds 
were not originally places of burial, but were sites of 
residence, probably those of the council houses or the 
houses of the chiefs. The reason that to the Cherokee 
Indians, and not to the Wateree Indians, the building 
of these mounds has been attributed, is that an early 
traveler among the Indians, John Lawson, who visited 
the Waterees in 1701, reports them to have been alto- 
gether indolent and they have been, in consequence, 
judged incapable of erecting these colossal monuments, 
while the Cherokees are known to have been more 
energetic. 

1. Adamson Mound: 

This large Indian mound, one of the largest, is easily 
accessible. It is just a mile west of Camden and about 
one-half mile north of the Columbia road. Those inter- 
ested in ethnology will be repaid for the walk by a 
glimpse of this relic of the aborigines. 



GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. [ 29 ] 

2. Chestnut "Mound." 

This so-called mound, a short way south of Camden, 
is not a true Indian mound, like the Adamson mound, 
or the other mounds up the river, but when examined, 
in 1886, proved to be an old Indian burying ground. 
Hardly less interesting in this character it has been a 
source for the recovery of many Indian relics, pottery, 
pipes and stone axes. 

Pine Tree Hill — Magazine Hill — Cornwallis House. 

This low hill in the southeastern corner of Camden 
is intimately connected with the early history of the 
town. Here Joseph Kershaw, the man who, more 
than any other, deserves the title of founder of Camden, 
established his store in 1759, and called the spot Pine 
Tree Hill. By this name the town was known for 
several years. 

When the Revolutionary War was in progress, a mag- 
azine, or arsenal, was built at the southeastern base of 
the hill at the cost of 9,000 pounds. Kershaw was put 
in charge. On this hill Kershaw had already built a 
residence for himself. When the British took Camden 
in 1780 both house and magazine fell into the hands 
of the conquerors. The magazine, already partially 
fortified by the Americans, they transformed into a 
redoubt as part of the system of fortifications of the 
town. From its shape it came to be known as the 
"Star" redoubt. The house became the British head- 
quarters while the occupation lasted, and from this cir- 
cumstance it came to be known as the Cornwallis house 



[ 30 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 

by a figure of speech in which the name of the British 
commander was made to do service for that of the 
invaders generally. 

Comwallis, himself, occupied the house for but a 
short time. It was a large three-storied building, very 
fine for the time, surrounded by handsome trees and 
beautiful grounds. As a penalty for his prominence 
in the cause of the rebellion, the owner, Kershaw, was 
deported, but his family were allowed to occupy an 
upper room for a time. However, young Lord Raw- 
don, when he took command, turned Mrs. Kershaw and 
her children out. 

When the British evacuated Camden in 1781, Rawdon 
ordered the destruction of the "Star" redoubt, and 
General Greene, when he entered the town, completed 
the work of demolition. Nothing now remains of the 
old magazine but a heap of brickbats. 

The destruction of the Cornwallis house was reserved 
for later times. During the Civil War the mansion 
was used as a Confederate storehouse. It was burned 
the day on which a detachment from General Sherman's 
army entered Camden in February, 1865, or on the 
evening of that day. The Confederate commissary, 
Captain John H. Devereux, ordered its destruction to 
prevent its falling into the hands of the United States 
troops. There is some question as to whether the order 
was indeed executed, and the supposition is general that 
it was the Federal forces who actually caused its 
destruction in accordance with the announced policy 
of destroying all such buildings. The point has not 
been quite determined. 



GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. [ 31 ] 

Old Court House. 

It has been explained elsewhere that the town of 
Camden grew away from its original site, northward, 
away from Pine Tree Hill and the old square at the 
junction of Broad and Bull streets. A short distance 
north of the old square, on the west side of Broad 
street, there still stands the old Court House, built in 
1826, but now no longer used as a court-house, a digni- 
fied structure of classic architecture, with four fluted 
columns two stories high across its front, through 
which rises to the second floor a flight of stone steps. 
For about 80 years this building was the administra- 
tive center of the county, but it is now the property of 
the Daughters of the Revolution. Interesting relics of 
the historical period have been gathered there. 

The City Hall Weather Vane — Effigy of King Haigler. 

The most curious of the relics of Camden's early days 
is the weather vane now to be seen on the steeple of 
the city hall. The vane is an ideal representation of 
Haigler, King of the Catawbas, an Indian chief of the 
time of the first settlement of Camden. Haigler was 
the friend of the early Quaker settlers and was intimate 
with Samuel Wyly, the storekeeper. He seems to have 
been of so much real service to the pioneers as to 
become in a sense "patron saint" of the struggling set- 
tlement. In his death — he was murdered by lurking 
Shawnees in 1763 — the people of Pine Tree Hill suffered 
a personal loss. 

The figure of the weather vane is five feet one inch 
in height. It is cut from iron and is gilded. The 



[ 32 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 

artist was a Frenchman, one J. B. Mathieu, whose pro- 
fession was the making of profiles, "warranted correct 
likenesses." Mathieu lived here from 1815 to 1834, 
and the likeness of Haigler was made by him some 
time prior to 1826, in which year it was raised to the 
top of the steeple on the market at King and Broad 
streets in the old town. Here it stayed till 1859, when 
it was removed to the new market on the west side of 
Broad street. Again, January, 1886, it was moved to 
its present position. 

The town clock above which King Kaigler stands 
perched, drawing his bow, is contemporary with the 
vane and has accompanied it at each move. 

Revolutionary Cannon. 

The old iron cannon which are to be seen in the yard 
of the Hobkirk Inn were removed to their present posi- 
tion in the 80*s. Previous to this, they had been on 
Magazine Hill, where, up to its destruction, they 
guarded the yard of the Cornwallis house, and were 
on notable occasions used for firing salutes. One of 
these cannon, it will be observed, bears the fleur-de-lis 
of France and it is supposed that this gun was captured 
at the siege of Louisburg and that it was brought to 
Camden by the British when they held the town. 

The cannon in Kershaw Park likewise bears the 
fleur-de-lis. 

Grave of Agnes of Glasgow. 
The old Presbyterian churchyard near the present 



GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. [ 33 ] 

Camden cemetery contains a low headstone with the 
following inscription : 

Here Lies 

The Body of 

Agnes of Glasgow 

Who Departed This Life 

Feber 1780 Aged 20 

This grave and stone are interesting because around 
them a curious legend has grown up. The manner of 
inscription in which the heroine is described as "of 
Glasgow," the fact that unlike most of the graves of 
the period, this is marked by an engraved stone, account 
probably for the growth of legend. The story, in 
various forms, is interesting. 

First form : Agnes is said to have been an attractive 
Scotch maiden, who, having given her heart to a British 
soldier in America, came to this country to join him. 
She forgot, however, before embarking to ascertain his 
exact whereabouts and discovered on arrival in Amer- 
ica that the task of finding her lover was an arduous 
one. She wandered, so it is said, from camp to camp, 
from New England to South Carolina, and reaching 
Camden at last found that her betrothed was lying in 
the churchyard. A broken heart soon brought her own 
death. Lord Cornwallis, touched, had her buried and 
her grave marked. 

Second form: In the second version Agnes is said 
to have been the mistress of Lord Cornwallis and to 
have died of a broken heart induced by the neglect of 
her military lover. Cornwallis's remorse is made 



[ 34 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 

responsible for the marking of the grave and the honor 
thus bestowed upon the poor girl. 

A too accurate modern historian has pointed out that 
the date of Agnes's death, as recorded upon the grave- 
stone itself, was several months before the British 
entered Camden. 

The spot is interesting and the riddle intriguing. 

Grave of De Kalb 

The yard of the Presbyterian Church on De Kalb 
street holds a grave and monument of peculiar inter- 
est. Here is buried that brave Revolutionary general, 
De Kalb, who sacrificed his life at Camden for a cause 
not his own and whose dust brings honor to the city 
which holds it as a sacred memorial. 

John Kalb was an Alsatian peasant, soldier of for- 
tune, and friend of America. It was on entering the 
French army as a youth that he assumed the "de" and 
began calling himself "Baron," an innocent pretension, 
to quicken promotion. Previous to the revolt of the 
colonies he had visited America on a mission for the 
French government. In 1776 he came to give his serv- 
ices to the young republic, and he rose rapidly in the 
service. At the battle of Camden he was second in 
command to General Gates and might better have been 
second to nobody. Here it was that in rallying his 
troops after the first disaster, when his superior was 
already leaving the field, he received his mortal wounds 
from which he died a few days after in Camden. The 
British recognized his merit and his bravery and 
accorded him military honors at his burial. 



GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. [ 35 ] 

The monument which the citizens of Camden erected 
over his grave in recognition of his zeal and services 
bears the following inscriptions : 

South face: 

Here 
Lie the Remains 

OF 

Baron De Kalb 
A German by Birth but 

In Principle 
A Citizen of the World 

East face: 

His Love of Liberty 

Induced Him 

To Leave the Old World 

To Aid the Citizens of the New 

In Their Struggle 

FOR 

Independence 

His Distinguished Talents 

And Many Virtues 

Weighed With Congress 

To Appoint Him 

Major General 

In Their 

Revolutionary Army 



[ 36 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 

West face: 

He Was Second in 

Command in the Battle Fought Near 

Camden 

On the 16th August 

1780 

Between the 

British and Americans 

AND 

There Nobly Fell 

Covered With Wounds, While 

Gallantly Performing 

Deeds of Valor 

in 

Rallying the Friends 

AND 

Opposing the Enemies 

Of His 

Adopted Country 

North face: 

In Gratitude 

For His Zeal and Service 

The Citizens of Camden 

Have Erected 

This Monument 

Other Memorials. 

Kirkland Memorial, at the junction of De Kalb and 
Broad streets, is a fountain for watering horses. It 
bears the following inscription : 



GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. [ 37 ] 



To Richard Kirkland 

C. S. A. 

In Commemoration of His Heroism 

At Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862. 

Christlike Compassion Moved Him 

To Leap Over the Stone Wall, a Mark 

For Hostile Guns, and Carry Water 

Again and Again, to the Suffering 

Foe Fallen Thick in Front. 

"Greater Love Has No Man Than This" 

He Fell at Chickamauga, Aged 20 

A Tribute From the School Children of Camden 

A. D. 1910 



The Dickinson Monument, in Monument Square, at 
the junction of Laurens and Broad streets, is a memo- 
rial to Lieutenant-Colonel James Polk Dickinson and 
serves to show Camden^s connection with the Mexican 
War. Dickinson, who was born in Camden in 1816, 
assisted former Governor Pierce M. Butler to raise the 
Palmetto regiment of South Carolina and was second 
in command to Colonel Butler. At Vera Cruz, where 
the regiment took its part in the landing operations of 
General Scott's army, Dickinson was wounded, and, 
later, at Churubusco, on the same day on which his 
leader was killed, 25th of August, 1847, he fell mortally 
wounded. The monument records that he died on the 
12th September at Mixchoag. His last words to the 
De Kalb Rifle Guards, uttered in the midst of battle 
when he caught up the Palmetto banner from the fallen 
flag-bearer, are worth recording for their theatrical 



[ 38 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 



eloquence: "Here, soldiers, is your standard! You 
once pledged your sacred honor never to desert it. 
Come, redeem your pledge! Rally round it. And 
thrice honored be the name that tops the list !" 

The Confederate Monument, in Monument Square, 
was "erected by the women of Kershaw county in 
memory of brave sons who fell during the Confederate 
War defending the rights and honor of the South," as 
the monument itself records. The east face of the 
monument carries the following inscription: "They 
died for home and country and are gratefully remem- 
bered wherever they lie," and the following verses : 

"Countless eyes have scanned their story, 
Countless hearts grown brave thereby; 
Let us thank the God of glory 
We had such to die." 

The monument to Civil War Generals, in Kershaw 
Park, is a handsome pergola and fountain with six 
pillars upon which are inscribed the names of six sons 
of Camden who rose to high command during the Civil 
War. These six generals were Major General J. B. 
Kershaw, and Brigadier Generals James Cantey, James 
Chestnut, Z. C. Deas, J. D. Kennedy and J. P. Ville- 
pigue. 

Revolutionary Battlefields. 

1. Battlefield of Camden. The visitor reaches the 
scene of Camden's first Revolutionary battle, that which 
took place on 16th August, 1780, by a drive of eight 
miles along the road to Lancaster, a continuation of 



GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. [ 39 ] 

Broad street in Camden, branching from the Charlotte 
highway a mile or so before De Kalb, the village 
through which the Southern Railway passes. The field 
of battle, now marked by a boulder in memory of 
General De Kalb, is spread out on both sides of the 
highway. Today it is largely wooded ground. At the 
time of the battle it was forested by pines, probably 
much more open than the low growth which now stands. 
The American troops as arranged for battle on that 
disastrous morning were extended both east and west 
of the road, the Delaware and Second Maryland regi- 
ments being to the west, while the North Carolina and 
Virginia militia, whose panic precipitated the rout, lay 
to the east. 

2. Battlefield of Hobkirk Hill. This interesting 
battleground is within the present city of Camden. Its 
center is near the junction of Greene street (named 
very suitably after the American general) and Broad 
street, in the Kirkwood section of the city. Where 
Broad street passes over the brow of the hill, the Amer- 
ican commander, Nathaniel Greene, had placed his two 
cannon pointing southward along the road toward 
Camden. The cut had not been made in 1781, so that 
this central position was a commanding point. The 
present visitor to the field who takes his position at this 
point (above the cut) will be so placed as to compre- 
hend the disposition of the opposing forces in the clear- 
est manner. To the west, along the ridge of the hill, 
now occupied by several houses, he will readily take in 
the position occupied by the American right. Where 



[ 40 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 



the Kirkwood hotel stands the First Virginia regiment 
under Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell held the right wing. 
Next east, just west of the road, were the Second Vir- 
ginians, under Lieutenant-Colonel Hawes, who fell that 
day. To the east of the road were stationed Colonel 
Gunby's First Marylanders and beyond were the Sec- 
ond Maryland regiment under Lieutenant-Colonel Ford. 
On this side the line extended to the low land beyond 
Lyttleton street. 

It was at this center of the battleground, where we 
have assumed the visitor to be standing, that the Amer- 
icans first gave way. Here first the British breasted 
the hill. Here took place the gallant and successful 
struggle, in which Greene himself took part, to recap- 
ture and withdraw the two pieces of artillery. 

Quaker Graveyard. 

Many of the early settlers of the Wateree region were 
Quakers. As early as 1759 a four-acre tract of land 
was purchased by them for the site of a meeting-house 
and graveyard, and the graveyard may still be seen 
within the bounds of the present Camden cemetery. 
The Quakers long since left this neighborhood, but the 
old graves serve as a reininder of the God-fearing men 
who had so much to do with laying the foundations of 
Camden. 

Lafayette Cedar, 

The Marquis of Lafayette visited Camden in March, 
1825, on his tour of the United States. At that time, 
tradition records, some cedar trees were set out before 
his place of entertainment as temporary decorations, 



GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. [ 41 ] 

but what was intended to be temporary became perma- 
nent. One of the cedars took root and flourished, at least 
so tradition says. At any rate the cedar, which may 
be seen in the yard of the present Kershaw county 
court-house, bears indubitably the name of "Lafayette 
Cedar" today. 

Miscellaneaus Objects of Interest, 

Camden's two cotton mills may prove of interest to 
many among the visitors to the town. These are the 
Hermitage Mills, about a mile from town to the east, 
and the Wateree Mills, also to the east, but nearer the 
city, and in fact just beyond the Sarsfield Golf Club, 
and plainly to be seen from the course. 

The Camden Beef Cattle Farms on the further side 
of the Wateree river is an interesting, because a bold 
and successful, venture in agricultural enterprise. 

Of importance to Camden and of interest to the vis- 
itor is the plant of the Wateree Power Company on the 
Wateree river, seven miles above Camden. This con- 
cern, which is a subsidiary of the Southern Power Com- 
pany, gives promise of adding very largely to the indus- 
trial opportunity of Kershaw county. 

CHURCHES. 

There is an architectural peculiarity about the Pres- 
byterian Church on De Kalb street, which is certain to 
draw the attention of the observer, for the steeple is 
at the end of the building furthest from the street. It 
is the yard of this church which holds the grave and 



[ 42 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 

monument of General De Kalb, which is among the 
objects of interest of Camden. The other Protestant 
churches are situated as follows: Grace Episcopal 
Church at the corner of Lyttleton and Laurens streets, 
the Methodist Church on the east side of Lyttleton 
street between Laurens and De Kalb streets, and the 
Baptist Church on Broad street at the corner of Lafay- 
ette avenue. The Catholic Church, the Church of Our 
Lady of Perpetual Help, is at the corner of Lyttleton 
and 18th streets. 

CAMDEN HOSPITAL. 

The Camden Hospital was opened on 1st December, 
1913. It is equipped in the modern style and occupies 
a commodious and handsome building. There are 
wards for both colored and white races, the two for 
colored persons at the north end of a long corridor and 
those for whites at the south end. All are exactly the 
same in character and each has a normal capacity of 
four beds. The private rooms for pay patients are on 
the second floor, and altogether the hospital has a 
normal capacity of twenty-four beds, though this can 
be increased. 

The operating rooms, diet kitchens, bath rooms, 
administration rooms and parlor, together with some 
rooms for nurses, are on the first floor of the main 
building, while the kitchen, store room, laundry, and 
dining room for nurses are under the wards, in the 
basement. 

The hospital building was erected with a fund of 
about $40,000 provided by Bernard M. Baruch, of New 



GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. [ 43 ] 

York, as a memorial to his father, Dr. Simon Baruch, 
the distinguished surgeon and physician, who was for 
many years a successful practitioner in Camden. It 
is supported by private contributions and by the income 
of the Burdell Trust Fund, a bequest of approximately 
$100,000 from Captain John Burdell, a prominent citi- 
zen of Kershaw county. Captain Burdell died in 
December, 1911, and his will directed that the income 
of the fund should be applied to the alleviation of the 
suffering of the poor, white and colored, of Kershaw 
county. In 1912 Mr. Baruch, by his determination to 
build the hospital building, made possible the present 
satisfactory application of the Burdell fund. 

The charity of the hospital is extended to residents of 
Kershaw county only ; but private patients are accepted 
from anywhere. 

THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY. 

The Carnegie Library is situated in Monument 
Square at the junction of Laurens and Broad streets. 
It occupies a red brick building of pleasing appearance, 
first opened to the public on 3rd January, 1916. The 
small collection of books first moved to the new quarters 
is being systematically increased; there is shelf room 
for 9,000 volumes, and the building is so planned as 
to make further enlargements easily feasible when 
necessity requires. 

The library is free to all white residents of Camden. 
The library association, an incorporated body, is com- 
posed of all white residents who pay annual dues of 
one dollar, and the direction of the business of the 



[ 44 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 



library is in the hands of a board elected annually by 
the association. 

Transient visitors and other nonresidents may enjoy 
the privileges of the library by complying with certain 
regulations fixed by the board of directors. 

The building is the gift of Andrew Carnegie. At the 
instance of the Camden Civic League application was 
made to the secretary of the Carnegie Corporation in 
1914. In 1915 it was decided to build the library, the 
principal conditions imposed being that the city should 
furnish a site and pledge itself to provide, for upkeep, 
ten per cent, of the donated sum, which was $5,000. 
These conditions being accepted, and a site selected and 
provided, work was begun and the building carried to 
completion during 1915. 

BROWNING INDUSTRIAL HOME AND 
MATHER ACADEMY. 

The Browning Industrial Home and Mather Acad- 
emy, situated at De Kalb and Campbell streets, is the 
outgrowth of Mather Academy, established soon after 
the Civil War and enlarged in 1887, when the Brown- 
ing Industrial Home was established. The School and 
Home are under the auspices of the Woman's Home 
Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
but are undenominational in their work, which is the 
education and training of Negro boys and girls. There 
are five buildings in the group and sixteen acres of land 
in the property. 



GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. [ 45 ] 

CLIMATE. 

Those who enjoy a moderate winter climate similar 
to the autumn climate of New England, New York and 
the northern tier of northern states, will find the tem- 
peratures of Camden from November to April, inclu- 
sive, delightful. The climate of Camden varies from 
month to month, November and March, the right and 
left wings of the winter, resembling a Massachusetts 
September, or, perhaps, a Massachusetts May ; Decem- 
ber, January and February, a New England October, 
with touches of a November tinge. Occasionally snow 
falls in midwinter, like late fall snowstorms in the 
North, and cold, raw days do occur. Often when it 
rains without, a corner by the roaring pinewood fire is 
in favor within. But the South Carolina sun is power- 
ful. When it shines after rain, the thermometer rises 
and a disagreeable day is transformed in five minutes 
into the most perfect of perfect days. During much of 
the winter overcoats are left hanging in the closet, but 
there are also many days which may best be described 
as "light overcoat" days, while there are times when 
winter clothing is imperatively needed. 

There is nothing enervating about winter in central 
South Carolina; on the contrary, it is always bracing 
and refreshing. Those who wish for summer weather 
and August temperatures in January and February are 
frankly told they had better go further south to find 
them and advised to visit Camden in March or April; 
those, however, who like weather in which they may 
be out of doors all the time they wish, who like sunshine 



[ 46 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 



through air with a little tang to it, who like, in short, a 
moderate warm climate, will find Camden weather as 
perfect in kind as their hearts may desire.* 

Weather Records. 

The following statistics are supplied by the United 
States Department of Agriculture, Weather Bureau. 
The statistics as to relative humidity are taken from 
the Columbia, S. C, records. The other records are 
those of the Camden station of the department. The 
average temperature and average precipitation figures 
are drawn from all back authentic records, including 
the James Kershaw record, which began in 1791 and 
closed in 1815. The records have been drawn down to 
the close of 1916. 



Nov. 


Dec. 


Jan. 


Feb. 


Mar. 


Apr. 


1. Average temperature 51.8 


48.3 


46.4 


47.4 


54.2 


62.4 


2. Average precipitation 2.41 


3.41 


3.40 


3.95 


3.76 


3.04 


3. Maximum temperature — 












Highest of record. 85 


82 


78 


75 


94 


93 


4. Minimum temperature — 












Lowest of record. 23 


12 


9 


12 


24 


24 


5. Average relative humidity- 


— 










8 A. M 77% 


79% 


81% 


78% 


78% 


74% 


8 P. M 57% 


64% 


62% 


59% 


55% 


53% 



*Not the least of the beauties of Camden "weather" is the late hour at 
which the sun sets. Owing to Camden's position near the western boundary 
of the zone of Eastern Standard Time the sun apparently sets from 30 to 40 
minutes later than in the northeastern United States. This, added to the 
length of day due to greater nearness to the equator, lengthens the afternoon 
almost to dinner time, even in the season of shortest days at Christmas. 



V*. 




A*^t-r.|» 



GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. [ 47 ] 

RESORT FEATURES. 

There are three resort hotels in Camden open during 
the winter. There are also a number of boarding 
houses which cater to the wants of northern visitors 
during the season. 

The "season" lasts from the middle of November to 
the middle or end of April and attains its height in the 
months of February and March. During the season 
visitors to Camden take advantage of the opportunity 
for golf afforded by the two golf courses, both of eigh- 
teen holes, one that of the Camden Country Club, the 
other that of the Sarsfield Golf Club. Both are highly 
developed courses. In February and March the Polo 
Club plays weekly and biweekly games of polo and 
some time in March a tournament to which visiting 
teams are invited, is played in Camden. The Riding 
and Driving Club has provided a half-mile track and 
other facilities for sport and recreation, while the nat- 
ural advantages of the neighborhood make informal 
riding and driving through the woods, over the soft 
country roads or along the more finished and finer sur- 
faced highways, one of the features of winter life in 
Camden. Among the recurring features is the Annual 
Horse Show held each spring under the auspices of the 
Riding and Driving Club. 

Sportsmen take advantage of the opportunities 
offered for shooting and fishing in a region of field and 
forest. Motorists find that, though the majority of 
roads are not well adapted for automobiling, the main 



[ 48 ] GuiDE-BooK OF Camden. 



highways which lead to Charlotte, N. C, Columbia, 
S. C, and other neighboring points, give considerable 
range for motoring, and pleasure driving by motor has, 
in fact, increased from year to year. 














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